Formulaic Sequences: Acquisition, processing and use(9 Language Learning & Language Teaching)

Formulaic sequences (FS) are now recognized as an essential element of language use. However, research on FS has generally been limited to a focus on description, or on the place of FS in L1 acquisition. This volume opens new directions in FS research, concentrating on how FS are acquired and processed by the mind, both in the L1 and L2. The ten original studies in the volume illustrate the L2 acquisition of FS, the relationship between L1 and L2 FS, the relationship between corpus recurrence of FS and their psycholinguistic reality, the processes involved in reading FS, and pedagogical issues in teaching FS. The studies use a wide range of methodologies, many of them innovative, and thus the volume serves as a model for future research in the area. The volume begins with three survey chapters offering a background on the characteristics and measurement of FS.

Table of Contents:
1. Preface; 2. Formulaic sequences in action: An introduction (by Schmitt, Norbert); 3. Measurement of formulaic sequences (by Read, John); 4. Formulaic performance in conventionalised varieties of speech (by Kuiper, Koenraad); 5. Knowledge and acquisition of formulaic sequences: A longitudinal study (by Schmitt, Norbert); 6. Individual differences and their effects on formulaic sequence acquisition (by Dornyei, Zoltan); 7. Social-cultural integration and the development of formulaic sequences (by Adolphs, Svenja); 8. Are corpus-derived recurrent clusters psycholinguistically valid? (by Schmitt, Norbert); 9. The eyes have it: An eye-movement study into the processing of formulaic sequences (by Underwood, Geoffrey); 10. Exploring the processing of formulaic sequences through a self-paced reading task (by Schmitt, Norbert); 11. Comparing knowledge of formulaic sequences across L1, L2, L3, and L4 (by Spottl, Carol); 12. The effect of typographic salience on the look up and comprehension of unknown formulaic sequences (by Bishop, Hugh); 13. 'Here's one I prepared earlier': Formulaic language learning on television (by Wray, Alison); 14. Facilitating the acquisition of formulaic sequences: An exploratory study in an EAP context (by Jones, Martha); 15. Index

Review :
Second Language teachers and researchers have demonstrated a growing interest in formulaic language in recent years, and Schmitt's edited collection presents a welcome, stimulating range of studies on the acquisition and processing of formulaic sequences by L2 learners. This book can be read with some pleasure by most classroom teachers, and there is much that they, as well as scholars in applied linguistics, can learn from it. This tome presents an interesting array of research that furthers our developing understanding of the acquisition and processing of formulaic sequences. Because it focuses predominantly on L2 learning, Schmitt's volume will be of considerable interest to both researchers and L2 educators. It makes a significant contribution to the field: the studies within it raise a myriad of complex questions to guide future studies on the acquisition and processing of formulaic sequences, and they encourage readers to consider a wider range of methods and contexts in their search for answers. The volume as a whole is a very accessible collection of papers that show a good range of empirical studies on the acquisition and processing of formulaic sequences.